Though this might seem a bit over the edge to those unfamiliar with the contemporary Christian right it's arguably the predominant belief, from the Christian Reconstructionist wing of the movement over through the more numerous charismatic evangelical camp, that all manner of disasters, from hurricanes and earthquakes, tornadoes and floods, murder and crime, economic downturns and stock market crashes, sickness and even death itself are divine vengeance,  predictable outcomes of America's failure to follow every last jot and tittle of Old Testament law.

For example, Christians United For Israel founder and mega-pastor John Hagee has claimed that Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans because of a planned gay parade.

That sort of mindset fits into a wider worldview that stresses the need to fight alleged witches and demon spirits (Alaska witch-hunter Mary Glazier is a personal friend to Sarah Palin, who's linked to at least two professed witch hunters) which are said to cause everything bad (and everything that Christian right leaders allege to be bad, such as being gay.)

Last December 16, 2009 the Family Research Council's Prayercast Against Health Care Reform, attended by Republican Senators Jim DeMint and Sam Brownback and GOP  Congressional Representatives Michelle Bachmann and Randy Forbes, was emceed by evangelist Lou Engle, who has arguably become the Republican Party's new, unofficial prayer leader. Engle says gayness is caused by demon possession, and one of Engle's sons specializes in casting those "gay demons" out.

In this bold new demon-haunted worldview that leading Republican Party figures seem to be gradually buying into, it's possible to construct an entire alternative healthcare system based on exorcism of demon spirits said to cause all manner of ailments - from headaches, backaches and toothaches, to depression, gynecological complaints, cancer, bad breath, and dandruff. There's even a demon that causes cigarette addiction.

Truck with demons can even impact the economy, according to New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) leader C. Peter Wagner, who claimed in a 1990's video that the early 1990's Japanese stock market downturn was caused when the Japanese emperor had intercourse with a succubus. Lou Engle, who I've identified as the GOP's new unofficial prayer leader, is a prophet in Peter Wagner's NAR movement.

And so it goes.